Loaded Episode 1 – The DVDfever Review

Posted by Dom Robinson on May 8th, 2017

Loaded is a new sitcom/drama (it’s not just a sitcom because it lasts longer than 30 mins) which centres on four friends – Josh (Jim Howick – Broadchurch, Stag), Leon (Samuel Anderson – Danny Pink in Doctor Who), Ewan (Jonny Sweet – Him & Her) and Watto (Nick Helm – Uncle) – who’ve each made £14m each on Cat Factory, a mobile phone game which has swept the world, but early on there’s a problem – the game’s in-app purchases are down, necessitating celebrations to be put on hold.

In this first episode, Leon hires a barber shop quarter to swear melodiously at former people in their working life who they didn’t like, Josh’s parents (Morwenna Banks and Simon Day) think he’s paid off the mortgage, but it’s actually a three-month trip around Uganda, Ewan loves offering bonuses and Watto – played by Helm, who has somehow made a career of playing an unshaven loser – is being sued for intellectual property theft relating to the game.

There’s a fair few people in this who you’ve seen in other programmes but who aren’t big household names, including Eastenders’ Scarlett Alice Johnson (aka Vicki Fowler), but running for 55 mins including adverts, it really needs tightening up and is certainly not ‘loaded’ with comedy.

Loaded begins tonight on Channel 4 at 10pm, and then later on All4. The series isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.